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Monday, November 28, 2016

I went to Hawaii for the first time in September. After scoping a serious sale on Virgin from LAX to Maui, my best friend and I bought cheap tickets in "celebration" of my birthday. By that I mean, a reason to spend a lot of money to go to Hawaii and enjoy ourselves. Is there a bad reason to go to Hawaii? Nay. But this was our's.

With travel comes the need for a travel project. It must be portable, interesting, and definitely take longer than a week to knit (sorry, vanilla socks, you do not qualify in this instance). I was craving an intricate pair of cabled socks, and this pattern fit the bill perfectly. So I cast on these Busy Bees Socks right before I left, using some Stroll Tonal I had in my stash.

They did me well. In fact, it took me much longer than my trip to finish them, since I was interrupted by my Campside Shawl, but I was determined to finish before I started any holiday knitting. I like the finished product - they look amazing - but I do not love these socks. The heel is slightly ill-fitting (and I prefer a slipped stitch heel), and I'm not super in love with Stroll as a sock yarn. It's a bit too hot on my feet, doesn't have much stretch, and felts easily. I'm lazy with my socks, and frequently they end up in the washer and/or dryer. There, I've admitted it. Take me away!

While we're on the subject of confessions, let me also say: I knit in the car. Yes, it's bad, but so is traffic in LA.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

This is my stormy Campside Shawl, knit from a free Pompom pattern and 6 balls of Knit Picks Gloss DK in Hawk. I first spotted this pattern a few years ago and appreciated the simplicity, with just enough yarn overs to make the knitting interesting. And it just looked so cozy, you know?

Shawls were never my thing. I couldn't imagine wrapping myself in what amounted to a small, triangular blanket. I know, I know, as knitters, it is our duty to love shawls. We all took the sworn oath of Shawl Love. But not me.

So what changed? Perhaps my newfound obsession can really be attributed to living in LA. We certainly do love wearing tank tops in November here, and wearing a wool sweater of any weight is difficult. Plus we have a city-wide obsession with black denim, black tops, black everything, and nothing tops off that type of outfit like a small, triangular blanket.

Yes, a knitwear collection INSPIRED BY TWIN PEAKS. Do I need say more? No? I'll just link you to the Kickstarter again, ok?

I fell in love with Twin Peaks a few years ago after finally giving into the goading of my well-meaning, artsy friends. And I definitely fell - the dreamy landscape of the Pacific Northwest, combined with the murder mystery and strange characters, captured my imagination. It's directed by the surreal David Lynch, and I love that Teresa and Leah have incorporated so many of my favorite aspects of the feel of the show into their designs!

I can't decide which garment design I'm more excited about, which directly correlates to the way I can't decide which Twin Peaks character is my favorite. I'm super excited to see the finished designs of these three sketches:

I love the vintage, cozy, mysterious inspiration behind all the pieces in the collection. These ladies have perfectly captured the small town, noir-feel that is Twin Peaks. Even if you're not a fan of the show, there is something in this collection that will resonate with you!

So head over to the Great Northern site to check it out, and back these lovely ladies on Kickstarter, here. There are lots of fun incentives to make it worth your while!

The pattern is super customizable - I've included instructions to knit the Cedar Glenn Mitts in both DK and Fingering weight yarn, and you can knit them in one or two colors!

These mitts are such a portable little project - I even took them backpacking! I knit up one of the samples while camping at Cedar Glen campsite in Angeles National Forest, hence the name.

The pattern is $4 on Holla Knits, or you can enter to win a giveaway of the pattern and yarn to make a Fingering weight version of your own, just like this sample:

To enter the giveaway, go check out the other Accessories 2014 patterns and come back and leave a comment, telling me which is your favorite pattern (second to the Cedar Glenn Mitts, obviously.) Remember to leave your name and a way to contact you (email or Google), and you will be entered to win the Cedar Glenn Mitts pattern, and the gold and grey yarn to knit them up!

I'll announce the winner next week, but before then, be sure to check in with the rest of the blog tour:

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

I am totally in love with Cape Vertigo by Leah Coccari-Swift. How gorgeous would this be in a monochromatic color scheme like two greys or two browns? I have a feeling it could double as a winter coat here in LA.

What about Axial by Kirsten Singer? It's an oversized boyfriend-like sweater with a unique construction. Look at that back panel! Gorgeous!

And Velma by Allyson Dkyhuizen. What a textured, classic beauty! The perfect Fall sweater (and I love that garter stitch neckline).

There's a lot more textured, sweater-y goodness in the Fall 2014 collection, so hop over to Holla Knits to check it out. Then come back and leave me a comment for your chance to win the pattern of your choice! I'll randomly draw a winner on Wednesday, October 1st.